Valentine's Day
by crazytomboy78
Summary: It's Valentine's day in the city, and Pepper's got a date to the school's Valentine's Day dance, leaving Tony jealous. And oh, yeah, Rhodey is trying to get Tony and Pepper together. How will everything turn out after this drama-encouraging holiday?
1. I'm Blushing

**Hey guys! I thought of this idea and I was all 'dudeeee that would be soooo cute for v-dayy storyyy.' **

"Come on, Tony, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, you have to have at least a date!" Pepper exclaimed as Tony worked away on the large computer.

"No, I'll pass. I've never been much of a 'dating' type of guy." Tony lied; no one else had to know that there was actually someone in his world that changed that.

"How can you not be a dating guy? That's like, impossible." Pepper asked.

"Well, I'm just not." Tony said without looking up.

"Or maybe it's because _someone_ told me that he's never found a girl who actually understood who he is on the inside until he met a _special_ someone." Rhodey teased.

"Shut up!" Tony said, cheeks growing red with embarrassment. Pepper smiled and crossed her arms.

"Tony, that's adorable! You're actually kind of deep!" Pepper cooed, "who's the special someone?" she asked out of curiosity.

"No one…" Tony mumbled as he hid his blushing in his work.

"Well you're a party pooper," Pepper complained, "are you even going to the V-Day dance at school?" she asked.

"No." Tony answered. Pepper sighed.

"Well if you're not going then who will I go with?" Pepper mumbled to herself.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Tony asked.

"She said she wants you to ask her to the dance." Rhodey smirked. Tony's blush became evident again. Pepper's face read an expression of anger and embarrassment.

"I do not!" She defended. Rhodey laughed. Tony, now even more embarrassed, started to work harder. Pepper grabbed her backpack and began to walk out.

"I've got to go," Pepper explained with a heavy blush on her face as well. Rhodey laughed with satisfaction. It's not that he's being a bad person, because he wasn't trying to be, he was just making his contribution to hooking his friend up with the girl who seemed to fit him well; since obviously it wasn't happening between them, and it should.

"Dude, what the heck?" Tony asked, after observing that Pepper was gone, slightly angered.

"What? I'm just hooking you up for you." Rhodey explained, sounding as innocent as possible.

"Well don't. It's driving her away." Tony said seriously. Rhodey smiled.

"Oh, suddenly that matters to you?" Rhodey asked.

"What? No, if she wants to leave then she can leave." Rhodey sat back in his seat.

"Doesn't seem that way to me."

~…~

"Ughh, dad it was SO embarrassing! Tony wouldn't even look at me!" Pepper complained to her half-listening father.

"Oh, honey, he was probably just teasing." Virgil suggested.

"Well it was embarrassing." Pepper sighed, going upstairs to her room.

Once in her room, she decided to surf the internet and see who was online. _Might as well find a date for the V-Day dance, since Tony is being stubborn…._Pepper sighed once more. She searched online for anyone available.

_Hey :D_ Pepper noticed a message from a guy in her gym class.

_Hi, what's up? _ she responded.

~…~

"Guys, guess what!" Pepper said excitedly, bursting into the lab.

"What?" The two boys asked, ill of excitement.

"I got a date to the V-Day dance!" Pepper exclaimed. Rhodey smiled, knowing what came next was going to be good. Tony tried not to drop his wrench, as he was working on the armor.

"What?" Tony asked, shocked.

"I got a date! I got someone to go to the dance with me!" Pepper explained, smile brightening her face.

"No! You can't—I, I mean…cool." Tony buried his face in his work to hide his blush and embarrassment. Rhodey smiled. Pepper crossed her arms, growing slightly irritated with her male friend.

"What, Tony? I can't what? What where you going to say?" Pepper asked in an annoyed tone.

"N-nothing, it's not important. Forget it." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Anyways, it's so exciting! Keith Walters, from school, totally asked me to the dance not too long ago. It's so exciting." Pepper squealed.

"Keith Walters? _He _asked you to the dance?" Tony asked, annoyed.

"Yeah, why do you care?" Pepper asked.

"No reason." Tony said quickly. Pepper shrugged and continued squealing about it, all the while Tony trying to contain his annoyance and complaints.

"Well, I have to raid my closet for something to wear tomorrow, see you later guys!" Pepper left.

"What the heck was that all about?" Rhodey asked.

"What's what about?" Tony asked as he worked.

"You totally freaked out when Pepper said she had a date." Rhodey said, knowing Tony knew what he was talking about but just to embarrassed to bring it up again.

"No I didn't." Tony said quickly.

"Yes you did. You almost sounded jealous." Rhodey commented.

"So what if I did get a little excited? It's no big deal." Tony lied.

"Tony, you sounded jealous. What, do you like her? Why don't you ask her to the dance?" Rhodey asked.

"What? I do not like Pepper, we're just friends. I'm not going to ask her to the dance, she already has someone to go with." Tony said, disgusted.

"Tony, you told me yourself that 'she's the first girl that understood you on the inside instead of the outside'. You can't tell me that doesn't imply that you like her." Rhodey smirked.

"I _do not _like her, and that's that." Tony finalized.

"Whatever you say, dude." Rhodey put his feet up and rested his hands on his head.

**Shoooooooorrrrrrrrtttttt alllllllleeerrrrrrttt! Sorry. There will be future chapters, but probably not many. I just didn't want to squeeze everything onto one document. but I'm going to get working on chapter two right away! review!**


	2. Jealousy

**Hey guys! Loving this story, so I decided to update again. Hahahaha, loving, get it? I'm funny. Part songfic.**

_**Song-**__**"Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars**_

_***Insert Disclaimer Here***_

_Her eyes, her eyes  
make the stars look like they're not shining  
Her hair, her hair  
falls perfectly without her trying  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her everyday (yeahh)_

I know, I know  
When I compliment her she won't believe me  
And it's so, it's so  
Sad to think that she don't see what I see  
But everytime she asks me "Do I look okay?"  
I say

_When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
'Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are_

Her lips, her lips  
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me  
Her laugh, her laugh  
she hates but I think it's so sexy  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her everyday

Oh you know, you know, you know  
I'd never ask you to change  
If perfect's what you're searching for  
Then just stay the same  
So don't even bother asking if you look okay  
'Cause you know I'll say

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
'Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
'Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

The way you are  
The way you are

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for awhile  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

"Oh, what do you think of this one?" Pepper asked, strutting out of the changing room in a purple dress. A part of Tony wanted to say she was beautiful in anything she put on, but what did come out was completely different.

"Cute." tony said boredly.

"Ughh you're barely paying attention." Pepper groaned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that it mattered, I thought your precious Keith would help you." Tony complained. Pepper grunted.

"Tony, why are you acting like this is such a big deal to you?" Pepper asked, annoyed.

"It's not, just forget it..." Tony said timidly.

"Ughh you're being so bipolar!" She walked back into the changing room to try on the next dress.

"Okay, what about this one?" Pepper asked as she walked out of the changing room in a red dress that reached two inches above her knees.

"It's good." Tony commented boredly.

"UGHH you're still not caring! At least have a real opinion, Tony." Pepper groaned.

"Pepper, I'm a guy. Guys don't give opinions to dresses." Tony explained. Pepper rolled her eyes and walked back into the changing room to try on the last dress.

A moment later, she walked out in a lighter shade of hot pink dress that reached mid-thigh. A strip of silk the same color wrapped around the waste, making her curves more evident. The dress had a same-color silk flower attached to the right strap sitting on the upper right corner of her chest, just below her shoulder.

"I, I, you...I-its good..." Tony stuttered as he rose from his seat. Anything he could possibly have said had escaped his mind when shed walked out of that changing room. Pepper could tell he was being sincere this time. She giggled.

"It's good?" She asked teasingly.

"I meant to say, y-you look really pretty..." Tony admitted shyly. Pepper blushed.

"Thanks..." She said quietly. There was a silence between them as they looked deep into each other's eyes.

"O-onto the next one…" Pepper tried to break the silence, looking back to the changing room.

"I thought that was the last one?" Tony asked, confused.

"Oh heck no! There's like, three more!" Pepper exclaimed. Tony groaned loudly to express his misery. Pepper giggled as she tried on the next dress.

_**~Twenty minutes later~ **_

"Well, which one did you like best? I think it's between these three." Pepper held the pink dress that came mid-thigh, a white and red dress that was purposely wrinkled to look stylish, and a purple dress that reached her knees. Tony sighed.

"Just pick one? They're all just fine."

"Fine, I'll pick it." Pepper said, hinting a complaint in her tone. She picked the pink dress, since Tony had seemed to appeal to it unlike he had for the rest. Maybe he'd notice her slightly more, Pepper thought. They went to pay for it.

"Alright, it's officially done! I'm all set for the dance tomorrow." Pepper said excitedly. Tony groaned, having had enough of girly, frilly things. Pepper smiled.

"Oh, we can do what you want now." Pepper said.

It wasn't necessarily being surrounded by dresses that bothered Tony, it was the thought that he, for some reason, wanted to ask Pepper to the dance but lost his chance because he couldn't find the guts. For some reason he felt weird inside whenever he listened to Pepper talk about 'how exciting this date is going to be!' especially hearing the word _date _come out of her mouth and knowing it wasn't involving him. He didn't know what it meant for him, but he did know he wanted it to go away.

"Good." Tony continued his way to the lab.

"Hang on, I'll meet you at the lab. I have to bring this back to my house." Pepper turned down the street to her house. Tony sighed and continued his way to the lab, trying to shake off his admiring thoughts about the girl he'd just spent a good portion of his day with.

"Dude, you look stressed, what's up?" Rhodey asked when Tony walked into the lab. Tony sighed.

"Nothing, I'm not stressed," Tony lied.

"No seriously. What's up?" Rhodey asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Tony lowered the armor so he could work on it more. Rhodey smiled and crossed his arms.

"Is it about Valentine's Day?" Rhodey asked, amused.

"I said I don't want to talk about it, okay?" There was annoyance in Tony's tone.

"It is, isn't it? It's probably about Pepper, right?" Tony didn't say anything.

"Oh my gosh, it so is! You do like her! I knew it!" Rhodey said triumphantly.

"I do not!" Tony defended, putting down his tools when they noticed Pepper walking in.

"Don't what?" She asked. Before Tony had a chance to respond, Rhodey burst out,

"Wittul Tony-wony has a crushie-wushie!" Rhodey teased, pinching Tony's cheek. Pepper smiled and laughed.

"Oh, my gosh Tony you do? On who?" Pepper asked as she laughed.

"I don't have a crush on anyone!" Tony said, offensively. Rhodey laughed at how entertaining it is to tease his friend. He'd had an intuition that Tony had entered the lab stressed about his 'crushie-wushie' on Pepper.

"Sure you don't, Tony. Sure you don't."

~…~

"Are you sure there's not going to be any disruptions tonight, Tony?" Pepper asked as she held her phone between her shoulder and her cheek as she applied makeup to match her dress.

"Not that I know of. But if anything comes up, I won't concern you with it. Rhodey and I can handle it just fine. Just go and have fun…" Tony explained. He didn't really want her to have fun on a date with some guy that wasn't him, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

"Tony, that's so sweet. I'll see you guys later!" Pepper hung up. Tony sighed and put down his phone. Part of him actually hoped that some Iron Man business would come up, just so he could get his mind off of Pepper and partly so it could disturb the dance and ruin her date. But then he didn't want to wreck her date, because it would make her miserable. And he didn't want to see her upset. Because that ran the risk of her crying, and he'd have to comfort her because he would feel guilty and bad for her.

Suddenly, Tony's half-wish came true. The computer detected an unknown disturbance downtown that had been detected as a growing threat. Tony, slightly annoyed, stood from his seat and lowered the armor. Rhodey, noticing the disruption, lifted his head.

"What's up?" asked Rhodey.

"Unknown disturbance downtown. I have to check it out." Tony explained in an annoyed tone. Rhodey nodded and looked back down to his homework. Tony let the armor surround him before flying out into the nighttime air.

**cliffhanger, but I'm feeling a writer's block for what to do next. I'm just going to have to sit a while and think about what to do next. But for now, review.**


	3. Dance

**heeeeeey guysss XD don't worry, this is the last chapter. It's a Valentine's Day present to you all. :D**

As the loud gym echoed the music playing from the speakers, the dancegoers smiled, laughed and danced together as the night went on. Suddenly, to their dismay, the music was paused so the principal could make an announcement. The students groaned and complained in dislike.

"Calm down, students, silence," he tried to soothe everyone and they seemed to calm down, "The police has just recently informed me that there is a disturbance in the city and it's moving towards the school. They've instructed me to move everyone to a safer location." Principal Nara explained. Everyone was suddenly frightened. Pepper, however, was thinking differently.

"I'll be right back, Keith," Pepper left Keith's arm and walked up to the stage from the back of the crowd.

"Principal Nara, how would you define 'disturbance'?" She asked, sounding annoyed and curious. Nara looked nervous.

"Let's just say, it involves Iron Man at the scene." He explained. Pepper crossed her arms and grunted.

"That's what I thought." She said under her breath. She walked back to Keith.

"We will all be moving to the basement, and continuing our festivities there. But no one is to leave the area, and everyone wandering the halls at the moment will be found and moved to the rest of the crowd. If you are unhappy with it, feel free to go home." The principal explained. Everyone groaned and started filing their way to the cafeteria downstairs. A lot of people would rather have left, because the cafeteria wasn't as big as it should be (which is why some students preferred eating their lunch on the roof).

Pepper, having a good estimate of what was going down on the other end of the situation, was just aggravated.

"I'll be right back; I have to make a phone call." Pepper excused herself.

"Hurry back inside." Keith warned. Pepper waved it off and dialed Rhodey's number. The phone rang a few times before Rhodey's slightly panicky voice answered.

"Rhodey, what the heck is going on? I'm trying to have a good time on my date here." Pepper, sounding highly irked, demanded.

"All Tony said was that there's an unknown disturbance downtown. Now I have no idea what's happening, and this guy isn't telling Tony anything." Rhodey explained. Pepper sighed.

"Well can't he at least move it away from the school?" Pepper crossed her free arm.

"Not really under his control." Rhodey answered.

"Well it should be." Pepper huffed. Suddenly, a dance chaperone opened the door behind her and warned her to go to the cafeteria. She hung up quickly and went inside. Tonight was not turning out how she had planned; if Tony had just asked her to the dance in the first place, they most likely wouldn't be in this predicament. Or, at least, she wouldn't be sitting on a cafeteria table with a guy that had blown her off for his friends, observing Pepper's miserable attitude. It wasn't the greatest date moment there ever was, but she didn't feel much like being on a date anymore. She felt like going up to whatever his problem was right now-Iron Man wise- and slap him to New Jersey. That'd take care of the 'problem'. Then she could go back to having a good time; or, what was left of a good time.

Pepper stood from the tabletop and walked over to Keith. She tapped him on the shoulder, and with an amused smile on his face, turned to face her.

"I think I'm gonna go home, okay?" She said.

"Aww, you sure?" He asked teasingly. He had obviously been roused up by his friends.

"Positive." She spat back.

"Well I'll call you later, okay?" He offered. Pepper nodded and walked off. He may have blown her off for his friends, but he had good intentions. It's not like she was super-mad at him; just a bit ticked off.

Once she got outside, she felt the cold February air whip against her skin. She'd forgotten to bring a jacket on the way there; she'd just work Keith's. Now it was cold and she was walking home alone, at night, in New York City, alone. That sounded _so_ safe.

Suddenly, as she was walking down the street, she felt a gust of wind pass her and stopped walking to investigate. Iron Man and his rival were right in front of her, which mean danger for her. She took a step back as they slowly inched toward her, Tony punching some super villain to the wall near her, then eying her.

"Pepper? Move!" He demanded. She ran to a safe place where she could watch. In the spur of the moment, Pepper felt her neck contract under the pressure of a hand. She felt her breath shorten and started to panic. She felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"Leave her alone!" Tony demanded. It seemed the evildoer wasn't listening, forcing Tony to take action. With a swift punch to the gut, the bad guy fell to the ground, releasing his tight grip on Pepper's neck. The police came in to take him away, and Tony tended to Pepper.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concern heavy in his eyes and his tone.

"I'm," she gasped large breaths of air, "fine."

"Try not to be at the scene of the crime, Pepper; you should be at the dance. What went wrong?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Gee, I don't know, the principal moved the dance to the cafeteria because '_the police _said it was getting too dangerous outside'." Pepper rested her hands on her hips. Tony picked her up and started the slow fly home, leaving his face mask open for her to see his lovely face through.

"But really, Tony, what the heck was that all about?"

"What?" Tony asked innocently.

"Everything was going so well until you ruined it by informing the school!" Pepper fumed. Tony felt mad

"Well? If it was going so 'well', then why did you look miserable? Why were you walking home? Obviously it wasn't such a good time if you were leaving." Pepper, having listened to Tony's ranting, was both flattered that it half sounded like he cared but was also ticked off.

"Tony, what is with you lately? You've been acting ridiculous! I'm flattered about your concern, Tony, but this behavior is not like you." Pepper complained.

"With me? Nothing is with me, I'm perfectly fine. I'm just concerned for your happiness is all," Tony stuttered.

"My happiness? Tony, what the heck is with all this concern about my love life? You've never cared before." Pepper crossed her arms.

"You look cold, do you want a jacket? Or go inside?" Tony asked.

"Tony, stop trying to change the subject. What's with you lately?" She asked, annoyed.

"Nothing's up with me. I'm just perfectly fine." Tony tried to hide the sarcasm.

"No, Tony, tell me the truth. What's up with you?" Pepper asked once more.

"Nothing, Pepper, I promise." Tony said sternly.

"Tony, tell me." Pepper prompted.

"Alright! It's because I maybe, sort of, kind of, a little, a teeny bit, maybe, did I mention kind of?" Tony tried to sidetrack himself.

"Tony, get to the point," Pepper said, laughing as she pushed his shoulder lightly as not to loosen an important grip, thus making her fall to her doom; which she didn't favor.

"…Care about you." Tony finished. Pepper was silent. She rested her hand on Tony's cheek.

"Then why didn't you do something about it before?" Pepper asked sweetly.

"B-because I didn't really realize anything until Rhodey kept teasing me about it. But what he said about what I said about you was true…" Tony said shyly, trying to hide his blush by looking into the sky all serious-like, trying to comprehend what she had told him. Pepper laughed as she noticed the dumbstruck look on her friend's face.

Suddenly, Tony stopped mid-air and kissed her. In what was roughly a minute of kissing, held a lifetime of embracing and togetherness. One moment felt like forever, and it seemed the world around them had ceased to exist, and they had ceased to care for it in that moment; time just stopped completely for them. Tony let go and took a step back as he cleared his throat. He stood a moment then stuck out his bent arm for her to hook her arm into; Pepper doing so, they flew the rest of the way to the lab, disappearing in the horizon of the nighttime sky.

**OOOOO-kkeeeyyy, that was short. Sorry. I didn't have much more to add, that's pretty much all I wanted to post for this last chapter. Come tomorrow and the rest of the week, I really do promise I'll start working on other stories. I just have to finish one other one-shot tomorrow and it'll be onto the other stories that have already been posted. (NO lies this time! I promiseee.) Review!**


End file.
